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- appointed Rev. Fr. Vittorio Francesco
Viola, O.F.M., as bishop of Tortona (area 2,350, population 281,310,
Catholics 274,640, priests 175, permanent deacons 20, religious 409),
Italy. The bishop-elect was born in Biella, Italy in 1965, gave his
solemn vows in 1991, and was ordained a priest in 1993. He has served
in a number of roles, including definitor or the Seraphic Province of
Friars Minor in Umbria, custodian of the convent and the Papal
Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli alla Porziuncola, guardian of
the convent at St. Clare's Basilica in Assisi, head of the Liturgical
Office for the region of Umbria, head of the diocesan office for
Education, Schools and University in Assisi, and head of the diocesan
Caritas. He was recently appointed as custodian of the protoconvent
and shrine of Porziuncola. He also teaches at the St. Anselm
Pontifical Athenaeum, Rome, in the Pontifical Liturgical Institute,
in the Theological Institute of Assisi, and the Institute of
Religious Sciences, Assisi. He succeeds Bishop Martino Canessa, whose
resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese upon reaching
the age limit was accepted by the Holy Father.